Here's Static's bio from the EMI Music Publishing website:emimusicpub.com/worldwide/artist_profile/static_profile.htmlhttp://www.emimusicpub.com/worldwide/artis...ic_profile.html

emimusicpub.com/worldwide/img_content/photo_static_profile.jpghttp://www.emimusicpub.com/worldwide/img_c...tic_profile.jpg He's on the left, and that's Big Jon Platt on the right (If yall seen SD, where he and Brandy were outside talking about HE IS and all)

"I like to be mysterious," Static says with a laugh. "I think I've got a mystique about me that's good. It keeps people guessing." If things keep going as they are, it will be impossible for burgeoning songwriter, producer and singer Static to remain in the shadows. A member of the Blackground family, Static, aka Steven Ellis Garrett, has wielded his songwriting pen for some of R&B's biggest artists - like Aaliyah, Ginuwine, Timbaland and DeVante Swing - helping create some of music's most popular hits in recent years.

His work with Aaliyah, specifically, has borne the most prodigious fruit: Static wrote the late singer's last five commercial hits, beginning with "Are You That Somebody," in 1998. Showing his multi-faceted talents, Static is also a singer in his own right, with the group Playa, a singing trio signed to Def Jam. The group's debut release, Cheers 2 U, turned heads in R&B circles with its release in 1998.

Static gained his music skills from his family and its local church. There, he sung in the choir, his sister played piano and his mother was the musical director. He began singing while in high school, and it's there that me met his partners in Playa - Smokey and Black. At a local show, the group caught the ear of Jodeci's Devante Swing, and he offered to work with them. In 1992, they trekked with DeVante to Rochester, New York, where they enrolled in their version of music college, honing their skills as songwriters while working with then-upstarts Timbaland and Missy Elliott. It was through Timbaland that Static met Barry and Jomo Hankerson, the founder and president, respectively, of Blackground. "They thought me and Tim would be a good team together, songwriter and producer," Static recalls. "They were right."

In 1996, Static began his first major project with Blackground: writing songs for Ginuwine's debut album. Its single "Pony" became Static's first major hit record, and Static continued the hits on Ginuwine's next effort, including "Same Ol' G," "So Anxious," and "No. 1 Fan." It was working with Aaliyah, though, where Static found his true groove, a musical soul mate of sorts. "She trusted me and what I wrote a whole lot," he says fondly of the late star. "We had beautiful chemistry."

A song off of Playa's album, "One Man Woman," was their first collaboration. They would hook up together soon after for Aaliyah's hit single, "Are You That Somebody?" (off the Dr. Dolittle soundtrack). "Missy was originally supposed to write that song but she wasn't available," Static remembers. "We only had one night to do it, too, which put big pressure on everyone." That song would rocket Aaliyah to multiplatinum, international pop fame. Over Timbaland's now-famous stuttering, syncopation track, Static revealed his writing chops: melodious hooks, layered and chopped up harmonies, an a progressive view of arrangements. "When I write, I just let the music talk to me," he explains. "I'll turn it up real loud and just listen to everything it has to say to me."

The collaboration between Static and Aaliyah was certainly a special one. Static has been the consistent factor for all five of Aaliyah's hits since "Are You That Somebody?" He wrote "Try Again," the wildly successful single for the Romeo Must Die soundtrack; "We Need A Resolution," "Rock The Boat," and her most recent single, "More Than A Woman" are all products of his songwriting, skill as well. In all, Static wrote or co-wrote ten songs on her self-titled 2002 album, which would sadly be her last. Says Static of Aaliyah, "We were blessed to have an angel in our lives for a brief moment. God put her here for a short time and then called her back home."

With his stock rising, Static finds himself with a barrage of opportunities. He is co-producing and co-writing a new group, Southernaire All Stars for his own Southernaire Entertainment record label, as well as writing for a singer named Truth Hurts being produced by Dr. Dre, and a new singing group called the Hamptons being released through Blackground. In addition, Playa has its new album due out this summer on Blackground. But it's his work with Blackground that he says is his foundation. "It's given me so many opportunities," he reflects. "That's been the base of my success right there."

Wrote #1 U.S. single "Pony" for Ginuwine. Wrote #1 U.S. single "Rock The Boat" for Aaliyah. Wrote #1 U.S. single "Are You There Somebody" for Aaliyah. Wrote #1 U.S single "Try Again" for Aaliyah. Wrote #1 U.S. single "So Anxious" for Ginuwine. Wrote "Drag On" first #1 single not released as a single to go number 1.